Interview with Anne Bolam

British nurse served with the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) at RAF Hospital Khormaksar Beach in Aden, 1964-1966.

Recording contains outdated and discriminatory language. REEL 1 Background in GB, 1938-1963: family background; father’s career as a doctor; decision to work in nursing aged 17; overview of early career and training including working at the Princess Margaret Rose Orthopaedic Hospital, general training at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital and working as a staff nurse in Oxford; decision to join the Royal Air Force; overview of postings to RAF Holton and RAF Ealy. Recollections of period as a flying officer with the Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service (PMRAFNS) at RAF Hospital Khormaksar Beach in Aden, 1964-1966: reaction of friends and family to deployment; knowledge of Aden; story of flying to Aden and helping a young mother with two young children; arrival at RAF Khormaksar during Christmas festivities, 12/1964; number of nurses deployed; difficulties of working night duty; story of a prisoner moving to the ward; types of patients treated; story of holding a Scottish marine whilst he died; story of a moving a sergeant to a separate room away from his men and breaking down; witnessing symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); types of injuries dealt with; story of sending a chaplain to a soldier with no religious beliefs; coping with the role; story of dealing with fifteen new casualties whilst in charge of the ward; decision to buy a car following the bombing of a civilian bus; opinion on the security situation; witnessing the bombing of the officers mess at RAF Khormaksar; recreational activities including joining the Operatic Society and playing the organ in church; ratio of female service personnel to male service personnel; story of dressing as an Arab woman for an Irish soldier; reaction to patients experiencing homesickness; friendship with civilian missionaries; story of one civilian patient stealing syringes to give to other civilians; difference in facilities between the civilian ward and the military ward; response to a marriage proposal from a sheikh on the ward; setting up a nursery for female patients; reaction to civilian patients disposing of sanitary products outside; story reaction to treatment of a female patient experiencing a miscarriage by an Arab nurse; reaction to the presence of prisoners on the ward; dealing with dingos on the base; story of drunk soldiers donating blood to give to civilians; using a camera to film aspects of deployment; travelling off-duty to other areas in Aden; keeping in touch with family and friends back home; understanding of British presence in Aden; story of being hospitalised after gaining hepatitis and seeing casualties in the hospital after the local post office was blown up; temperature in Aden; membership of the Operatic Society. REEL 2 Continues: accommodation and facilities at RAF Khormaksar; relationship with officers; story of helping a casualty with the artificial kidney unit; response to the presence of prisoners on the ward; story of an RAF officer breaking his ankle after falling off the roof of the NAAFI; opinion on the mental health of the officers deployed; holidaying in Kenya whilst off-duty; marrying an RAF squadron leader after meeting at the Officers Christian Union in Aden, 1967; response to the closure of RAF Khormaksar; working with missionaries; reaction to leaving RAF Khormaksar; understanding of the reasons behind the British presence in Aden coming to an end; opinion on the situation in Yemen, 2023; reaction to returning home. Aspects of period in GB, 1967-2023: posting to RAF Halton; role as a part-time district nurse in the NHS in Reading; story of treating a suspected Irish Republican Army (IRA) paramilitary; injury whilst working as a district nurse and subsequent retirement; role working with the Soldiers', Sailors' & Airmen's Families Association (SSAFA); treating a casualty from the MS Herald of Free Enterprise accident, 3/1987 and recognising symptoms of PTSD; understanding of PTSD despite not formally recognised; comparison of how Black and white patients respond during medical treatment; reasons for taking part in an oral history interview for IWM, 2023; changes witnessed in nursing; sentiment towards deployment to Aden.